The Trial
by purplefern
Summary: *spoilers in summary* Maynott's arrest was only the beginning of the battle. Francoeur and friends still have a trial, controversy, and public opinion to fight.
1. Chapter 1

_Yes, I am still here. Yes, I know this is not Ninja Turtles, but I recently watched A Monster in Paris  and absolutely loved it. So, before you go any further, I suggest watching the movie. It's on Netflix if you have that. _

_Anyway, for those here that have seen this, I couldn't stop wondering what Maynott's court case would be like, and how the public would react to it. Also, I wanted to add a fanfiction to this small fandom that wasn't Francille. Add to our small numbers. Anyway, enough stupid-long author notes, to the story! _

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Judge Martin looked around the courtroom, internally wondering why it had to be _him _to do this case. Usually during court, there was a decent amount of people, family of the accused and the accusers, maybe some press; but this was no ordinary court hearing, and the courtroom was unusually full. Finally his eyes came to rest on the defendant, who was sitting in his chair with a proud, nearly smug, grin that Judge Martin couldn't begin to understand, considering what he was being accused of. Sighing softly to himself with the knowledge that this was going to be a _long _trial, the head judge decided he might as well start now.

"M. Maynott, former commissioner of Paris, is charged with the following crimes: several cases of assault, property destruction, and first-degree attempted murder" the judge intoned, as the large group of Parisians looked on at the ex-commissioner with varying mixtures of shock, disgust, and curiosity.

"_Attempted _murder?" exclaimed the once well-dressed and powerful man, now wearing a standard prisoner's uniform, as his smug smile faded and was replaced with a irked frown, "What does that mean?"

"Well," replied the judge, "Seeing as M. Francœur is _alive _we can't very well charge you with murder."

Maynott looked up at the main judge with shock, then turned to look at the crowd gathered at the hearing, his eyes locking onto a particularly tall, familiar looking member of the onlookers. Francœur glanced back at his former persecutor nervously, before shrinking back towards Lucille who sat at his side. "The monster, alive? But I killed it!" protested Maynott passionately, standing up and addressing the whole courtroom, "I _saved _Paris from this creature, and now you just let it into the courtroom?"

"You should be grateful that Francœur is alive!" shouted Lucille, now also standing, "Maybe now you'll be able to get out of prison before you're ninety!"

The courtroom broke into excited chatter at the confrontation, before the judge called for order, "Mademoiselle Lucille, please! Calm yourself!"

Lucille fell silent but continued to stand, steaming and glaring at Maynott, before Francœur placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back towards her seat. Lucille sat down, but continued to stare venomously at the defendant. Briefly her eyes shifted to the flea next to her, and she dropped her violent expression when she noticed the unease on his face. Giving him a small hopeful smile, Lucille turned back to the judge, saying calmly, "I'm sorry Judge Martin. You can go on now".

"Thank you, Mlle. Lucille." Shuffling his papers and looking across between the general attorney and the defense, and then sweeping a glance at the two other judges in the room, the main judge nodded his head once, then announced, "Well, then, we'll get this assize court under session. M. Maynott, as the defendant we will allow you to speak for yourself first. What do you have to say about your charges?"

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Lucille stomped out of the doors to the Palais de Justice, muttering to herself all the while. "That Maynott! He has the jury with his every word! I can't believe that they believe this 'hero' nonsense! That man is no hero, he's a menace!"

Francœur, who was walking a pace behind the fuming Lucille, sighed in disbelief himself. If anyone understood what kind of menace Maynott was, it would be the "monster" he had chased after so viciously. But good luck getting the general public to see it from his point of view. Francœur 'said' as much to Lucille, chittering discouragedly as he looked down at the ground.

Suddenly Lucille stopped and turned around, and Francœur stopped short so he wouldn't run into her. "Don't sound like that, Francœur. You're not a monster, and everyone will know it! Pâté did, didn't he?"

He replied with a hesitant hum of agreement, but still looked unsure.

Lucille turned around towards L'Oiseau Rare, only to let out a quick gasp of surprise as she ran right into a held out newspaper.

"Commissioner Maynott's arrested! People question Captain Pâté's decision to defend the rights of the 'Monster of Paris'". Lucille took a half step back to read the headline more clearly, then ripped it from the man's hands, handing him change for the paper. "Thank, you, ma'am" said the paper guy, tipping his hat, before walking in the other direction, continuing his declaration of the latest news. Lucille skimmed over the main article, while Francœur, curious, peered over her shoulder to look at the story as well.

As she read the article, her mouth formed into a thin line as she read the journalist's column on the critiscm of Pâté's decision to arrest Maynott. After reading as much as she could take of the harsh statements about defending the rights of a monster she let out an exasperated sigh and said- partly to herself and partly to Francœur, who had looked up at her from where he was slowly reading through the article when he heard her sigh- "If Maynott is found innocent after all of this, I don't know what I'll do".

Francœur looked thoughtful, but didn't respond. He couldn't help but feel guilty at all this argument and fuss over himself. He didn't like conflict, and he also didn't like Lucille feeling so angry all the time- she hadn't look relived since the trial at the courthouse had started. He halfway didn't even mind if Maynott _was _found innocent if it meant that this would all blow over more quickly. Only halfway, it would be better if Maynott was locked away safe, so he wouldn't be able to hurt Francœur or his friends again. The sudden image of Maynott trying to hurt Lucille made him panic internally for a moment.

His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Lucille placed a comforting hand as close to his shoulder as she could get, saying, "Hey, don't worry about it. Like I said, I'm sure everyone will see it from our side. For now, let's just go home". Now that was something Francœur could easily fully agree to.

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_Please review, I'm always so nervous posting something for a new fandom. Until next chapter! _


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, the "Angel of Montmartre" and the "Monster of Paris" (formerly) were both preparing for their usual show at the L"Oiseau Rare cabaret. The duo was debating on which music would be best for the performance that night- Lucille wanted "Just a Little Kiss", but Francœur was in more of a mood for the slow, ballad-like version of "La Seine"- when there came a knock on the door. "Francœur…" Lucille started to tell him to get his "disguise" on, but he was ahead of her, already pulling on his gloves and putting on his hat. It may have almost been generally known who and what her performing partner was, but the female singer didn't want to take any chances. Looking over at Francœur, who gave her a thumbs up, she went to open up the door, only to let out a relived but annoyed sigh when she saw it was only Raoul. She opened the door a little wider, and glared at him with her hip cocked and arms akimbo. "Raoul, what do you want? We're trying to get ready for a show here".

Worryingly, Raoul did not respond to her jibe, instead asking, "Lucille, can I just come in?"

Taken aback by the tone of his response (it reminded her far too much of when he had told her that the police were coming to L'Oiseau Rare), she simply nodded and stepped back to allow him inside the dressing room. Raoul glanced behind her to look at Francœur- who was taking off his gloves when he saw that it was only Raoul- with a worried look, and then looked at both of them, declaring, "You guys can't do a show tonight" as he threw a pile of papers onto the piano seat.

Francœur looked at him with surprise, with a sharp chirp that could have either been a "what" or a "why", and Lucille- looking outwardly annoyed but on the inside feeling worried- echoed him. "What? And why would we do that?"

Rather than answer directly, Raoul answered with a question of his own, picking up the bundle of papers and giving them to her as he asked. "Have you seen any of this?"

Lucille did not have to look at the papers too long to know that they were the same articles that she had read before. "Yeah, what about them?"

"Did you read all of them, all the way through?"

She shifted uncomfortably, not liking where this was going. "No, I didn't. Raoul what is this? Why are you saying we can't do a show tonight?"

Raoul sighed, and looked back and forth between Lucille and Francœur, who had been watching the conversation wide-eyed, and looked at the both of them. "There's a lot of hateful stuff going around from Maynott being arrested. Not everyone is as happy about it as we are, and those people all know where to find Francœur. I'm worried that one of you, maybe both of you, are going to get hurt if you go out there on stage tonight. I don't want that happening" this last part he said looking only at Lucille, who looked down at the newspapers in her hands with worry.

It wasn't long before her worry turned into resolve. She stood up, handing the newspapers to Raoul, telling him, "It's nice of you to be so thoughtful, but we're still doing our performance" she glanced over to her partner to make sure that the other half of the "we" agreed, and he gave her an equally decided nod. He was generally a gentle soul, but he wouldn't let anyone take his singing away from him. I t was one of the most important things he had. "Right. We're doing our performance".

"Lucille, are you crazy? Well, more crazy than usual. Who knows what could happen tonight!"

"We can't let some harsh words stop us from doing what we like to do. That only tells them that they were right and that they won. I, for one, won't be intimidated by a bunch of Maynott-supporting bigots".

Raoul groaned, knowing that he couldn't talk her out of this. "I hate it when you're like this".

Lucille merely grinned, knowing she had won the argument. Looking at a nearby clock, she looked between Francœur and Raoul, before giving a definitive clap of her hands. "Well, our show's on in ten. Francœur, we'll go ahead and do 'La Seine'." She walked out of the dressing room, giving Raoul a kiss on the cheek and a "thanks for caring so much". Hastily putting on his mask, hat, and gloves Francœur followed behind her, giving Raoul an apologetic shrug, but he was no less determined.

"You're both nuts" he muttered to himself as he was left in the dressing room to consider the foreboding newspapers in his hands.

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_R&amp;R, Until next chapter!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Brace yourselves, Francoeur fans, this isn't a kind chapter. _

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The two headed backstage, and heard the quiet murmur that came through the curtain, as patrons waited for the show to start. The murmur died down as Carlotta's voice went through the room. "Welcome, Mesdames and Messieurs to L'Oiseau Rare! I'm happy to introduce for you tonight the Angel of Montmartre and the Supreme Virtuoso: Lucille and Francœur!"

Applause rippled out from the crowd and the duet stepped out onto the stage as the curtains rose. Everything started normally, the two sang the slower version of 'La Seine', now arranged for a duet instead of a solo, and danced while the crowd cheered and watched on. By the middle of the performance, both singers were too lost in the song to even think about the threatening news articles. They both were dragged painfully back to reality when something crashed onto the stage. They both looked down in the direction of the crash, and were surprised and worried to see shards of broken glass in a puddle on the stage, almost right next to their feet. Right after they saw this, a loud voice could be heard coming from the banisters on the side of the room. "Freak! Get off the stage!" All eyes in the room went to the general area of the now-raging voice. "It's a sad day when good people are arrested for trying to kill something like that!" The room broke into murmurs, most of shock, but a few faces seemed to consider the ranter's words.

" I can't believe that you're all letting a monster act like he's one of us or something! We should all be doing what the commissioner did and hunting it down, not treating it like a celebrity!"

Lucille stopped and stared bloody-murder at the direction of the voice, before turning towards Francœur, who stood stock-still with shock and hurt creeping into his eyes. "Come on, Francœur, let's go" turning towards the audience, who was already being bustled out by Carlotta and even Raoul, Lucille announced "Show's over, folks. Go home".

"Yeah, you leave. Freak lover!"

Turning beet red, Lucille screamed, "Will someone get that guy out of here?!" before grabbing Francœur by a glove and giving him a gentle tug backstage. He followed without protest, only giving out a quiet whimper, his eyes still full of hurt. Once safely backstage, Lucille gave him a hug, telling him, "It's alright. That idiot was probably drunk. No sober person would want to hurt you like that. It's alright…" He leaned into her comforting arms, wrapping his own arms around her with grateful purr that was still tinged with sadness. Humans' fear, he knew, and had even come to resignedly accept as how things were: even now, he still scared people. But hatred, that was something new, and he liked it even less than their fear. What had he done, he couldn't help but wonder to himself, to deserve all this? All he wanted was to do what he loved with the people he loved, like anyone else. But just because of what he was, no one seemed to understand that. Even now, people saw him as a monster, and nothing seemed to have changed. Well, except for one thing…

Holding Lucille just a little tighter, Francœur was grateful that at least some humans understood.

"Hey, are you two alright?" Francœur was broken from his thoughts as Raoul came running down the hall towards them, and the hug was broken up right after for them to face him.

Francœur replied with a strained, but positive trill, and Lucille told him, "We're alright".

Raoul instantly looked relived, and taking a more casual posture, said, "Well, that's good. You know that guy broke a perfectly good champagne glass? How'd he get in here anyway? I thought that the L'Oiseau Rare didn't accept 'losers'". He looked at her with a lopsided smirk that helped to at least slightly break the heavy tension.

Lucille at first looked at him with confusion, before smirking herself. "We usually don't, but then again we've made exceptions before" the joking mood dissolving, she added in an exasperated voice, her anger at the situation coming back, "Please tell me you got that guy out of here".

He smiled again, this time not at Lucille, but to himself, "I didn't, but your aunt sure did. Threw out face-first onto the pavement, and banned him to boot. Remind me not to ever get on _her _bad side". Turning now to Francœur, he added, "And, don't worry, if he shows his face around here again I'll take care of him myself".

Francœur considered that for a moment, and then with a small churring laugh gestured towards Lucille, who looked back at him with a cocked eyebrow.

Waving his hands frantically, Raoul protested with a restrained laugh, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't want to hurt the guy _that _bad!"

Lucille crossed her arms with a huff, but accepted the joke at her expense. It really wasn't her fault she was so protective, or that she had a temper.

Jokes at an end, the trio in the hall fell silent, but the silence was much lighter than the atmosphere had been before. Then the silence was broken with a sigh from Raoul that seemed to reflect everyone's feelings, and said distantly with grim humor, "It looks like I was right after all, huh?"

Francœur chirred in regretful agreement, but Lucille replied, "You said we'd get injured. And look" she spread her arms out, gesturing at both singers, "We're fine".

"Ah, ah, ah" argued Raoul, shaking a finger, "I said one of you'd get _hurt_." His eyes turned serious and sad- after all, he'd heard the horrible things yelled about Francœur as much as Lucille had- and he ended soberly. "And someone did get hurt".

Lucille sighed, upset, but added, looking relieved "At least it's over". Francœur nodded and churred in relief, but Raoul shook his head.

"This won't be over until Maynott is charged guilty, and it might not even end there. You know how people can be. Some people still give you a hard time just because you're a woman, and you're even human! I'm sorry to drop some heavy realism on you, buddy" he said, turning towards Francœur and shaking his head in slow regret, "but I don't think there will ever be a time when every human completely accepts you".

Francœur sighed, realizing that what Raoul said was probably true, but when he looked over at Lucille, she looked like she wanted to slap Raoul, a look of determination on her face that the flea was coming to know, love, and sometimes rely on, more and more. "Maybe we can't change the mind of the entire world, but we call still show people, one person at a time, _who _Francœur really is. And just _what_ Maynott is". She smiled, looking smug, as if they had already convinced everyone. "And Maynott's trial would be a great place to start".

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_ So, R&amp;R, until next chapter! _


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